Women to Watch 2021: Tash Menon, Mash

Tash Menon

Manaing director and founder
Mash
Australia

With over 13 years of professional experience, Tash Menon has led and consulted on strategic branding, creative, partnership and event projects for luxury hotels, restaurants and high-end events across Australia, London and Asia.

Now based in Melbourne, Menon launched Mash in 2018 after recognising the impact the freelance economy was having on ways of working around the globe. MASH is a global community of freelance brand strategists and creative problem-solvers that offer a modern take on the traditional agency model.

The firm has continued to grow from strength to strength. In 2020, at a time where most agencies were downsizing, Menon led Mash to increase revenue by 130% YOY, with a net profit margin in excess of 20%. The agency also diversified its client portfolio to 20 different industries globally with freelancers across six continents and clients in Australia, the UK, US and Southeast Asia.

In early 2021, Netflix came to Mash for help conceptualising and delivering locally relevant creative content across 13 countries in 10 different languages. Led by Menon, the Mash team curated and managed a bespoke International Writers Room. A core team of writers were split across the US, Asia and Australia for round-the-clock review and delivery. In record speed, her team vetted and onboarded 15 writers from 13 regions in 72 hours. Netflix has since engaged Mash on a new project.

As a second generation Indian-Australian, Menon is committed to elevating and bringing new voices to the table. This year she developed a new programme called Emerging Voices, which focuses on elevating emerging creatives from outside the traditional advertising world to experience working alongside Mash's global community. This includes artists, activists, poets, rappers, writers and more. This initiative is driven by Menon's ethos that “experience is not critical but true self-expression is.”

In reimagining an ageing business model and taking the road-less-travelled, Menon has taken Mash—a three-year-old virtual creative network that already spans the globe—to grow 130% YOY, a testament to her formidable leadership.